two sided

if someone wanted to start racing their bike
and they asked my opinion
it's not traumatic brain injury that I would warn them about,
at least, not any sort of acute brain injury.
it would probably talk more about the the slow re-constitution of things they once held valuable,
because bike racing could change them
some for better
some for worse.
there are some that should change
like improving your health
exploring and knowing your surroundings,
and traveling to and exploring others,
exercise,
eating healthy,
sun in your face,
wind in your hair,
relationships,
community.
Then there are some that shouldn't change,
but one day you wake up and realize they have
not necessarily for the better,
and not because of any conscious choice,
but from calories of energy taken away from the rest of life,
instead
pushed into to the pedals.